Demolition of Slidell Municipal Auditorium is under way

Slidell Municipal Auditorium, meet the wrecking ball. Wrecking ball, meet the last Hurricane Katrina-damaged municipal building still standing nearly five years after the storm.

Ellis Lucia / The Times-PicayuneDemolition of the Slidell Municipal Auditorium, swamped by 7 feet of water during Hurricane Katrina, began Monday.

Crews with Zimmer-Eschette Service II LLC of New Orleans started demolishing the 57-year-old auditorium Monday around 8 a.m. in preparation for a new building to rise in its place. What is perhaps most significant in the auditorium's demise is not that construction soon will begin on its replacement, but that Slidell's battle with FEMA appears to have reached its conclusion.

The work to remove the auditorium from its slab should take about two weeks, with construction starting on the new, 9,000-square foot facility beginning soon thereafter. The demolition is costing almost $97,000.

VCC LLC, which has offices from California to Georgia, submitted the $6.9 million low bid for the construction, which is expected to be complete in 2011. Seven companies bid on the project, submitting base bids up to $12 million.

The Slidell City Council is expected to award the job to VCC at its regular meeting Tuesday night.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will pick up nearly $6.4 million of the tab, with the city and insurance proceeds covering the rest.

The agency penalized the city $500,000 for not having flood insurance on the auditorium, and other insurance proceeds will cover the remaining $35,000 in costs. In addition, the city will pay an additional $60,000 for site paving that is not eligible for FEMA reimbursement.

Katrina's storm surge heavily damaged the auditorium, but the city fixed up the building as best as it could to continue allowing functions, such as Carnival balls, in the interim.

Former Mayor Ben Morris fought FEMA tooth-and-nail to get the agency to pay for the demolition and reconstruction, rather than accept the agency's recommendation that it pay to renovate the existing structure and build a concrete wall around it for protection from future storms. Morris announced FEMA's acquiescence in May 2009.

Sizeler Thompson Brown Architects, which designed the two new city buildings across and down the street from the auditorium, also is designing the new building, as Morris had wished for continuity in the designs. The auditorium will be the same size and basic structure as the existing building, per FEMA's requirements.

Though Morris has hoped to sign the construction bid before June 30, his last full day in office, the paperwork reviewing the bids and recommending VCC for the project did not reach the mayor's office until July 20.Christine Harvey can be reached at charvey@timespicayune.com or 985.645.2853.